While Mandy oohed and ahhed over Ellen's designs, Flora and Jason headed off through the convention dealer's room to see what other delights the place might hold for the kinky shopper.

Almost immediately, Jason saw something that nearly made him collapse with silent laughter. At Flora's questioning look, he pointed. The elderly couple they had earlier noticed coming off the elevator were now browsing the dealers room, dressed in matching outfits of black and white vinyl! The lady caught Jason looking at them, and nodding in recognition, smiled at them politely.

Flora and Jason continued on their way, with bemused expressions on their faces.

Many of the tables on this side of the room appeared to be for mobile "clubs" and social organizations, which surprised Jason, since he had expected such groups to adopt a low profile since the notorious Spanner Case. After talking with several party organizers however, they discovered that at least here in England, the pervy crowd had opted to fight back with pride and public presence. In doing so, it was hoped that they would not be so easily dismissed as a "lunatic fringe" by the relatively conservative local media.

Finally, they began seeing more interesting booths and tables. Tugging his arm, Flora pulled him over to one that he'd missed. The owner appeared to be selling sculpture, since the centerpiece of her display was a lifelike, ebony statue of a woman. Most of the other shoppers merely glanced at the statue and moved on. When Flora showed more interest, the woman got up from her stool and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Lori," she said, offering a hand to Flora, while giving Jason the once-over-lightly. "Are you interested in a cocoon?" she asked.

"Well, I." faltered Flora, shooting a puzzled look at Jason.

"You mean, waitaminute- that's not a statue?" Jason interrupted.

"A cocoon, as I said. My lover is inside. Don't worry- she's fine, just immobilized rather thoroughly. Since each one is made from a mold of the person's body, it is a perfect custom fit. and quite snug." Jason took a closer look at the cocoon. It was jet black, and polished to a high gloss. Tall and sculpted realistically in the form of a thin yet attractive nude woman, the sculpture was possessed of an almost surreal beauty. She had slender almost boyish hips; small, rather pointed breasts, and long, muscular legs. She looked like a dancer, and he said so.

"She is. Or was rather, now she's a maid, more or less," Lori replied.

"What, er, what is it made of?" asked Flora, who already had a gleam in her eye.

"Fiberglass reinforced resin. The base on this one is marble, although we usually make it from finished wood. The fiberglass is nearly a centimeter thick, so it is quite heavy. On the plus side, it's almost completely soundproof. Here, take a flyer." She handed each of them a color brochure containing pictures of the manufacturing process. While they read, and looked over the pictures, she continued.

"As you can see, we first make a full body plaster cast of the subject. That's a lot of fun, even if it's not as useful as the finished item."

Jason and Flora exchanged looks. They had both had the titillating, if somewhat frightening experience of full body casts not so very long ago.

"Then, a positive is cast using steel-reinforced Hydrocal, which gives us a sturdy form, an exact duplicate of the slave. The fiberglass is laid up on that. That last picture there shows some options we made for a recent customer in the U. S.- interchangeable bust cups with various devices built in, head fittings, crotch accessories, and so on. The version I brought here is pretty basic- it's one of the first we ever made. Oh and of course, you can have your choice of color, too. We're seriously thinking of offering one in transparent acrylic plastic but it would be hideously expensive and about twice as much work."

Jason nodded toward the statue'. "How long do you keep her in there?"

"Depends on my mood- and hers. And how good she's been." She glanced at her watch. "Right now, she's going on seven hours."

"SEVEN HOURS?" exclaimed Jason. He realized he'd nearly shouted and immediately looked sheepish. "Well, I mean, that seems like a long time for something that severe."

"It isn't necessarily severe at all- it's quite comfortable really, since it conforms to her body exactly." She grinned. "Which is not to say it can't be MADE unpleasant, or for that matter, pleasurably distracting- there are a few options, even on this model." She was obviously warming to her subject, no doubt recognizing a pair of potential customers when she saw them. She moved to the statue' and pointed out various features as she lectured. "The natural curves of the human body made hinges quite impossible, so we had some small latches designed- they run down each side. They're morticed into the edges, so they're not very noticeable. The edges are made with tongue-and-groove construction, and a neoprene gasket runs around the entire perimeter, making for a water-tight, and for all practical purposes air-tight, seal. For that reason, we will not ship a cocoon without both mouth and nose openings, since otherwise, it's impossible to tell whether your slave is in trouble, or even breathing." She took out a small mirror from under the counter and held it below the nose of the tall form. When she showed it to them, Jason saw mist quickly disappearing on the glass. This produced a powerful reaction in him that he couldn't quite explain the source of, but the result was plain. He shifted his stance, to hide his growing excitement. It was as if, until she'd produced the mirror, the discussion had all been theoretical, but now, faced with proof that there was indeed a living, breathing person inside that ebony sculpture, someone who had the same beautiful shape as the exterior, he experienced a unique, empathic thrill.

"As I was saying," Lori went on, "there are a few features that I think of as standard, even though we've only made a few of these so far. Although you can't see it, the crotch has places where vibrators, butt-plugs and so on can be fitted, and." she inserted a small tool from her pocket into the statue's navel, "the entire crotch can be removed completely, granting access to the slave's genitals." Lori pulled at the crotch, and a narrow curved section, extending from just below the navel to the bottom of the buttocks, now came away in her hands. The seams were so finely matched, that they had been invisible until she had opened the panel.

She pulled it down with exaggerated slowness, and soon they saw why. Attached to it's inner surface, and presumably being withdrawn from the woman inside, was a tremendous, tapering plug that seemed entirely too long and thick for the scale of the slender statue. At it's base it had to be at least four inches in diameter, it's tapered length appeared roughly ten inches long, and the blunt, rounded end seemed reminiscent of a golf ball. As she set the plate aside, long slimy strands of some stringy, artificial lubricant stretched between the panel and where it had just been, as if the statue were reluctant to give up that which had recently been so intimately connected with it. Removing the panel revealed a small patch, perhaps fore inches wide, of a naked, hairless mons. A faint gleam hinted at piercings or some other hardware, nestled between her lips.

Jason glanced at Flora, and they shared a wide-eyed, disbelieving look. Neither could quite believe that that giant dong had been inside a real person.

When they looked back, Lori was sitting on the stool close to the statue, donning a black latex opera-length glove, and squeezing lubricant onto it. She smeared it liberally over the glove, then paused theatrically to smile at her visitors.

"I suspect my Amy is loose enough by now, wouldn't you think?"

Jason and Flora just gaped back as Lori turned and began easing her fingers inside the rear end of the statue. In the space of ten seconds, her hand had disappeared. She appeared to be moving her fingers, because they could see the muscles in her forearm working. Lori returned their stares with a slight smile. She leaned a little closer to her work, and moved her arm up. To Jason's utter amazement, after a little working and slow movements back and forth, Lori had her arm inside the statue up to her elbow. Even taking into account the fact the Lori's arm was considerably smaller than his, he was quite taken aback, and for a flashing instant, had a vision of what the person inside must be experiencing.

Lori spoke for the first time in several minutes. "It's very tight- there's almost no room inside for her body to expand." She moved her other hand up and began manipulating the occupant's front with a single pinky finger, which she worked in between the labia. After a few moments, she sped up her hand motion, then stopped. After a moment, she slowly, very slowly, eased out her other arm and hand.

"There," she said, looking quite pleased with herself as she stripped off the long rubber glove. "That will be her fourth orgasm since she went inside this morning- and one she won't soon forget, I imagine. So-" she looked Flora steadily in the eye, "-think you're ready for one?"

"An orgasm?" interjected Jason.

"No idiot," Flora shot back, "one of those." She looked nervously from Lori to Jason to the statue, and back to Lori again. "Well, actually, it does sound fun, but. well, it would be up to my, um, our, mistress." She looked down at the table, then up at Lori through lowered eyelashes- her best submissive look. Jason had to struggle to suppress his laughter.

"Of course, of course," soothed Lori, "don't you worry your pretty little head about it." She smiled as a cat might smile at a bird she was planning to have for lunch.

"Just give her one of my cards, won't you?" She handed Flora a plain white business card.